Jose Corona of Inner City Advisors urges: to truly transform local neighborhoods, we must shift our attention to invest in enterprise scale, not start-ups, as a long-lasting solution for creating good jobs.
Entrepreneurship, with all its headline-grabbing power, is misunderstood and overstated as a liberatory force when it comes to solving the challenges of economic growth. Start-ups get a lot of love and attention. There’s excitement and intrigue at the outset of a new venture, and the same goes for big buy-outs, acquisitions, and billion-dollar valuations. But the growth that takes place between start-up and exit—the scale—is what matters most right now. We need to look at the entire lifespan of a business, not just the birth, and support entrepreneurs through the most critical stages of growth. We must shift our attention toward scale in order to create and retain good jobs in the long term.
Start-Ups Closing Down at Higher Rate
According to the SBA Office of Advocacy, small businesses, defined as an independent business having fewer than 500 employees, have generated 65 percent (or 9.8 million) of the 15 million net new jobs over the past 17 years. U.S. micro-businesses (one to four employees), many of which are start-ups, created a net of 5.5 million jobs from 2004 to 2010.
It’s clear that start-ups are excellent job creators. But what happens when we zoom in on the survival rate of these firms? What happens when we examine the sustainability of the jobs they create?
FULL STORY: Focus on Scale Up, Not Start-up
What ‘The Brutalist’ Teaches Us About Modern Cities
How architecture and urban landscapes reflect the trauma and dysfunction of the post-war experience.
‘Complete Streets’ Webpage Deleted in Federal Purge
Basic resources and information on building bike lanes and sidewalks, formerly housed on the government’s Complete Streets website, are now gone.
Downtown Los Angeles on the Rise: A Promising 2025
Fueled by new developments, cultural investments, and a growing dining scene, downtown Los Angeles is poised for significant growth in 2025, despite challenges from recent wildfires and economic uncertainties.
Report: Transportation Equity Requires More Than Electrification
Lower-income households often lack the resources to buy electric cars, signaling a need for a more holistic approach to improving mobility and lowering transportation costs.
Supporting Indigenous Land Reclamation Through Design
Harvard students collaborated with the Sac and Fox Nation to develop strategies for reclaiming and co-managing ancestral lands in Illinois, supporting Indigenous sovereignty through design, cultural storytelling, and economic planning.
A Plan to Expand Tree Canopy Across Dayton
Dayton is developing an urban forest master plan, using a $2 million grant to expand its tree canopy, address decades of tree loss, and enhance environmental equity across the city.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research